The grant needs to go!

Ah jaysis, where have you been? Been missing my dose of Kramer controversy for a while now 😂

I kind of agree, they need to start rethinking the grant. If the game is affordability then they should cut the price cap down so only the base spec models are covered

But where do you set the limit? There's an argument that cars over €25k are for rich people, but look for a family car around that mark and it's basically Dacia or bust

So then you're punishing people for having children, which the government wants to avoid (I'm theory at least)

IMO the grant should be dropped down to €35k gradually over the next 3 years and dropped completely by 2030

I'm not sure it's an Irish thing or even an EV thing at this point

VW were recently saying they're aiming to become a luxury brand. So much for the people's car 🙄

Kia/Hyundai have been doing the same for a while as well

Seems all the brands are moving in the same direction, abandoning the budget segments in favour of higher profit markets

IMO the budget cars will be coming from China and India soon

VW, BMW, TESLA, Mercedes…

Looking at Germany, they have the automaker pay part of the grant, I think it's a 50/50 split. And also there's a bonus grant for cars under €30k

Ireland doesn't have the same clout with the car sales industry, but maybe something could be done here along those lines

For example cars over ~€35k, the grant is partly funded by the dealership? The cynic in me says that the dealerships will just pas that cost along to the customer however

supply constraints maybe?

It's not just Tesla making it transparent - I've a quote from a BMW dealer on an i4 and it clearly lists the price for the car and each option with the individual VAT and VRT costs on each line.

Grant should have been gone years ago. It's a very poor efficiency spending of tax payers money. I reckon waiving the €120 motor tax to make an EV motor tax free, while upping all other motor tax by a bit, so at a net zero cost to the tax payer, would have more of an impact at changing people's buying behaviour. Irish people just love da chape tax!

you ll actually find humans love 'da chape tax'!

It has 60 kms range, fine if you never drive it outside the M50.

I did say suitable vehicle.

Cheapest leaf on dd now is 5700 and only has 8 bars, what's that about 100km range. That's just not enough for a lot of people.

I'm a fan of electric cars but now is not the time to be increasing tax on ice cars, the rise in fuel costs is enough of a cost increase to encourage those who can over to ev's.

The cynic in me says that those AC chargers would suddenly cost €50k to install, and 50kW units would be €1 million each 😬

It's a good thought in principle, and it's basically what Tesla do with the SuC network. The problem is that it's in Tesla's interest to have a high quality network, but whoever would be issuing the grant doesn't depend on any decent number of chargers being installed

Just look at the latest "plan" published around public charging. They can fulfill all the objectives of the plan and not install a single charger

Does the Fluence have a bumber sticker saying my other EV is a Model S with over 400km range. A lot of poor people would like to be in that position.

Again as I have said many times before even if everyone wanted and could afford an EV it would be years before they could all get their hands on one given current serious supply constraints. Letss wait until that is resolved before further penalising ICE drivers

People were too slow, the boat with cheap EVs has sailed. That said, plenty of cheap €6-7k Leafs out there, these can fast charge, people have easily done 500km in them in a day with a handful of fast charges. Still cheaper to own than a banger petrol or diesel car for anyone doing a good bit of mileage. Whinging won't get you 1km range.

Well, Unkel going by another thread heats their house with a couple of Crypto Mining rigs!!!!!! So hardly a regular punter :) They seem to despise the use of oil or gas but happy to burn vast quantities of electricity!

Th whole idea of taxing ICE cars out of existence was possibly a reality up until as recently as a year year ago.Then sh1t got real in the world and people have bigger things to worry about than their carbon emissions.

The vast majority of vehicles in this country are ICE and there's no way any government is going to push up the costs significantly of owning one in the near to medium term.

The 20c and 15c reduction in costs of petrol and diesel respectively is due to be expire in August,they're not even going to be able to do that.

I don't agree. Sure, things have happened that are out of our control. But now is not the time to sit back, stick our heads into the sand "lalala it's nothing to do with me" and look back up in 2 years time to see if things are a bit better

Now is the time to take action. Fast track the installation of massive wind and solar parks, improve charging infrastructure, provide (tax) incentives for people to stop using fossil fuels and move to electricity instead, stimulate start up companies in the renewables sphere, particularly those with international ambitions. Even without any of the above external factors, this was always going to be an exponential growth industry. Because of those external factors, this will be even more rapidly so. And at individual level, can I use less fossil fuels, can I install some solar PV, etc. A small example: for €200 you can buy a solar panel and a grid inverter. This panel will produce 380kWh per year in electricity in the better parts of Ireland when south facing. It will take the base load from your house, you will use all that it produces. At 23c cost per kWh, that will save you €88 per year, every year. And not only that, but the depreciation on that hardware is near zero too.

Ah cmon seriously you would head out on a 500km journey in a €5k Leaf? How long would that journey take? A couple of years back it took me 7.5 hours to do 350kms in my 161 L30. I tried it a 2nd time and it took me over 6.5 hours. Anyone attempting such a journey now would want more time than sense.

Again a 60km range EV would only allow you do a 30km journey without requiring charging, which isn't very useful for too many people, other than as a second car for pootling around near home or as a cheap option for their kids to learn to drive in. Which is why older ICEs (or bangers) will continue to be driven for a while yet.

60 km only is meh! and trying to do 500 km with a handful of charges meh also ! Most people have things to do, places to go other than a leisurely trip down the country or drive 15 kms from the sea to the m50 on nearly level ground at a snails pace.

Try driving across a county and then half in to the next after doing all the usual school runs and what not, then look forward to hoping a charger is available.

Even if people did buy the half used up cars, what do they know about battery chemistry and if the range will be 25% less again in 2 years time, with a fossil fuel car you can have some certainty.

The grant was taking away from phev's, and they are still selling, only trailing EVS by 4% so no harm I think reducing the grant or eliminating it and sticking the funds into charging, at home and everywhere else.

It should be gotten rid due to the blatant unfairness of it. Drive an old car and you penalised by punitive tax; buy a new one and you'll get a grant and chape tax.

Im alright jack .......

Your off your head , earlier on you were saying people should just make the switch I got a car for 2 grand.. there isn't enough 2 grand cars let alone 10 grand cars for people to move to.

Equally you took advantage of the grant yourself with your ioniq...

This I'm alright jack stuff is hilarious. People shouldnt be penalised when we are walking into historical inflation. Cop on .